The Twins are approaching "comfortable" distance between themselves and the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central standings. They just came from behind and beat the Royals to finish a sweep and earn their 4th victory in a row. Despite a raft of injuries, and some creative work filling out their rotation, things are going well.
Of course, that doesn't assuage the most negative fans in Twins Territory. Royce Lewis is playing for the Saints, despite a strong start to his Major League career, and fans are upset. It totally understand the frustration. Lewis' first 11 games were dynamic displays of his ability, despite having missed a couple of seasons to injury and pandemic. He is the future of the team, and is already better than some of the players that are continuing to occupy roster spots with the Twins.
One thing about the current run of good results the Twins are on is that their May schedule is quite soft. They are just finishing a road trip that took them to Kansas City and Oakland, and in fact, are playing either the Royals or Tigers until June 2nd. To put it more bluntly, the Twins aren't going to necessarily be greatly improved by Lewis's presence, not so much that it will win them many extra games.
On the other hand, the two players he would probably displace, Gio Urshela or Nick Gordon, are out of options. Given the injury record already with this team, and a forward looking outlook on the nature of baseball, it seems foolish to lose one of those players for nothing, when they aren't in dire need of an extra bump.
To that end, it makes some sense to keep Lewis in St. Paul. He isn't at risk of going anywhere else when his options are used. It's less about sending him to the Saints than it is to keep Gordon and Urshela in the fold for the long run.
Now, why was Lewis sent to St. Paul instead of Jose Miranda? That's a mystery I can't quite wrap my head around.
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